


sparks that go unnoticed (sparks that won't be noticed.)

by orphan_account



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, What are Tags?, and theories of mine, but also new stuff, i don't do that??, i don't know how to do this??, i don't know how to write their relationship send help, i wrote actual romance??, idk if i like it, like the old lab and gaster and all that, this deals with past stuff, tried out a new style too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 03:33:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6888199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s funny, the things people will ignore.</p><p>The fact that they’d been through this a thousand times didn’t help much, either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sparks that go unnoticed (sparks that won't be noticed.)

It’s funny, what people can ignore.

The fact that they’d been through this a thousand times didn’t help much, either.

They’ve shaken the other’s hand for the first time so many times that they forget to let go sometimes (they don’t want to let go) and hold on that extra few seconds to make sure the other’s really alive.

They’ve walked through the same halls in the old lab, and sometimes one will run ahead and sometimes they’ll stand side by side, talking about the weather or a prank on a colleague that may have gotten out of hand (because they’re scared that, if they stray too far, one will disappear.)

They’ve shared a few quiet smiles and told jokes and puns to pass the time (and sometimes she laughs and sometimes she doesn’t; and sometimes he’ll show his real smile and sometimes his eyes will disappear and she’ll be left wondering what’s happened to them both.)

They’ve tried, again and again, to fix time and space, the continuum of their whole world, their existence, all for it to remain the same (the “good” Doctor and their “perfect” team--not even they know where they went.

(And the first few times, they avoided each other to try and keep the memories from coming back. The first few times, they tried to convince people--tried to remind people--of the others, but nobody remembered. Nobody ever did.

(Lately she’ll visit him to make sure he doesn’t lose hope. Mainly because, it’s happened before. But a small part of her does it for other reasons; the part that doesn’t quite understand why she likes being held by him, but doesn’t bother pushing him away, either.)

Sometimes they talked about the resets. Sometimes, he does, because in those timelines he’s the only one that remembers. And at times, _she_ does--because in those timelines, he doesn’t understand a single thing she’s saying, but tries to, because they both know they’ve both been there (though they can’t figure out how they know this. Call it a feeling.)

On at least one instance, neither of them remembered anything, and things had been peaceful. For a while.

In a few timelines, innocent smiles and gestures weren’t all that innocent. Jokes weren’t said just to fill the silence, but were meaningful, in a way.

They have dreams, at times, where they can remember the times where the humans that fell down terrorized the Underground, on different occasions (always, always, having a glint of red in their eye and mumbling nonsense underneath their breath. Always, always, with that terrible smile stretched on their face.)

Depending on the timeline and on the dreams, their small friend--Frisk--is either their hero, or their enemy.

The ones where one of them dies is the worst (because that means all the others are dead, and the other is left alone to fend for themselves. There’s nobody familiar to them, nobody they can trust, and it drives them to the point of madness. Or, sometimes...even death.

(Neither of them talk about this.)

On occasion, their hands might brush and one of them might blush, mumbling some pathetic excuse to leave (they can’t do that, they’ve decided. They’re just friends--and that’s all they can be. It’s better that way.)

They ask, at times, about the other’s love in hopes of deflecting their own inner demons (and there he goes, winking at her, and there she goes, blushing; it’s a vicious cycle. It’s confusing, because it’s meant to be friendly--but it doesn’t feel friendly anymore.)

Neither of them touches alcohol, after so many retries. They can’t stand the smell, they say (or the memory of nights spent late in the lab, hiding in one or the other’s office. They still shudder every once in awhile when old promises and hushed words come back to them, but not enough to where they can clearly remember why it bothers them so much.)

They’ve repressed enough feelings to last millions of lifetimes, and even more memories. Because sometimes, it hurts too much (because sometimes, it’s all they can do to even get out of bed. Let alone relive their living nightmare of an existence.)

They know they’ve kissed at least once.

They know they’ve killed at least once (they can’t remember if it was each other or the children that walk to the Judgement Hall. It might as well be both, if they were being honest.)

They’ve hated each other and argued to the point where their anger buried itself in timelines afterward, waiting to be let out at a time where they could handle each other again.

(Those were the timelines where they avoided each other to the point where neither showed up even if the human had been good to them. Eventually, though, she’d find a note on her desk after being out for a while, and laugh, because damn did he know how to make her smile. And _damn_ , did he know how to get out of trouble, the bastard.)

They’ve stood here, a thousand times, in the same hazy, thrilled state, wondering, hoping, wishing--is this the last one?

And then…

“Alphys, you know Sans? I didn’t know you two’ve met already.”

And their eyes meet, Alphys a fidgeting mess, Sans rolling his shoulders and trying to act as carefree as he can.

“W-Well...I…” She plays with her sleeves, and all she can think is no, because she can’t stand being reminded. She hates being reminded (but she also doesn’t mind, because that small part of her still wants to go back in time and relive it all, to fix it all. She’s always been a bit of a perfectionist--a stubborn, stubborn perfectionist.)

“doesn’t everybody?” He saves her before things can reach that point, before everyone finds out that everything isn’t as it seems and they’re not what they seem.

And everybody buys it but Frisk, who squints at them, searching, calculating. They say nothing, and are told to go stretch their legs and take a walk to talk to their friends before they all leave. The child still doesn’t question either of them when they leave to do exactly that.

(But they both know, sometime in the future, that it’ll come. Frisk is always curious, no matter the timeline. Curious, and determined.)

While everyone is distracted, they catch each other’s eye.

He smiles, and winks, and she offers a small smile out of generosity.

Neither of them say a word to the other.

Because this is one of those timelines where they’re trying to play it right, and they can’t afford for past mistakes to mess it all up.

It’s funny, the things people will ignore.

 

Neither of them are laughing.

 

***

 

_As it always happens, the world fades to white, static taking over their bodies for a moment before they find themselves standing in a lab, with plenty of monsters bustling around them, the “good” Doctor standing beside them, handing Alphys her lab coat._

_“Welcome to the team,” he says, gesturing to Sans, who’s too busy blinking to register the words anymore (he really, really doesn’t want to,) “Sans will help you settle in. Do try not to mess with anything on the way to her office, will you, Sans?”_

_“you got it, big guy.”_

_The “good” Doctor grimaces, but before he can respond, someone calls him from down the hall, “Sir! We have a problem!”_

_And he groans, pats the small skeleton’s shoulder, and leaves, leaving the two of them standing numbly in the hallway._

_Sans is the first to stick out his hand, his smile warm (because he knows her, and that makes this a little less painful; because he really hopes, for once, that they don’t have to pretend. That they can let go, this time.) “heya. i’m sans. sans the skeleton.”_

_Alphys looks between him and his hand, before she laughs (though her tears aren’t because she found any of this funny.) “Alphys.”_

_And they shake hands_

_and don’t let go._

**Author's Note:**

> People wanted salphys--I delivered.  
> I probably failed.  
> Also practice because I might actually write a longfic maybe with this ship in it. But I need to practice how the hell it works to begin with.  
> Which I didn't technically do bUT ANYWAYS ENJOY YOUR SALPHYS I'M SORRY IF IT'S BAD I DON'T USUALLY WRITE STRAIGHT STUFF.


End file.
